London shares climbed at the end of trade on Wednesday aided by positive corporate figures with investors waiting to see if the US Federal Reserve would announce fresh stimulus measures aimed at boosting the world's biggest economy.
The FTSE 100 index gained 1.38 percent to 5,712.82 points.
"Good results from various major names have helped maintain a degree of optimism in London, which contrasts with nervousness in other markets ahead of central bank meetings," said Chris Beauchamp, Market Analyst at IG Index
"The focus remains squarely on the three central banks whose decisions appear in the coming hours. First up will be the Fed, although, as so often, no great change is expected from this quarter, he added.
On Thursday, the ECB and the Bank of England also unveil their latest monetary policy decisions, as both grapple with the eurozone debt crisis.
Vodafone remained the most-traded issue after investors exchanged 115 million units.
This was followed by Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) which saw 75.3 million units being sold.
Retailer Next was the top performer and saw its share price rise 208 pence -- or 6.46 percent -- to close at 3427 pence as the group announced increase in first-half sales, exceeding analysts' expectations
Shire was also in demand with shares up 89 pence -- or 4.82 percent -- to close at 1937 after the pharmaceutical major said that earnings would still grow by a double digit percentage rate this year.
Randgold was the sessions biggest casualty as it saw its share price slide 120 pence -- or 2.07 percent -- to close at 5680.
Whitbread was similarly under pressure, down 33 pence -- or 1.54 percent -- to end the session at 2103 after UBS cut its recommendation
On the currency markets, sterling fell both against the dollar and the euro.
At 17:06 BST, sterling fell to $1.5597 from $1.5678 at the same time Tuesday.
The British currency slipped to 1.2680 euros from 1.2743 over the same period.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/london-shares-rise-161632674.html
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